


All vampires stay in magnolia

by GreekWritesFanfiction (Greece_The_Squishy_Lencha)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, Controlling father, Cussing (?, Ethically Sourced Blood, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Illegal Activities (minor robbery), Multi, Non-binary Natsu, Nonbinary Character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, References to Depression, Slice of Life, Slow To Update, Trans Gray, Trans Male Character, Vampires, attempts at humor, bc i want to avoid moral dilemmas, blood consumption, blood consumption is different from blood drinking bc this is mixed with food, lgbtq character(s), no one is straight, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26085715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greece_The_Squishy_Lencha/pseuds/GreekWritesFanfiction
Summary: Lucy is a newly turned vampire that's trying to understand her new condition. Luckily, there's a group of dorks at her side to guide her.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel & Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia & Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster/Lucy Heartfilia/Erza Scarlet
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	1. How (not) to realize that you are a vampire

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having my vampire phase again and this is the result.There won't be a lot of plot, but there will be gayness.  
> This first chapter AKA the set-up came out a bit more serious than intended, hopefully it's fine.

* * *

**September 5th-8th, 1999.**

* * *

The first symptom, if you could call it that, was an extreme sensitivity to sounds. It went unperceived, of course, because Lucy had gotten drunk the night before at her friend Tarou’s party and woke up back on her sofa with a terrible hangover. It was expected for the lights to feel too flashy and for noises to be too loud. And if it took her almost a whole day to finally feel normal again, it must have been because she hadn't drunk like that in months.

The second symptom was a vulnerability to garlic. Now, even though she liked Italian food, Lucy wasn’t someone who bought something other than pizza often ―mostly because her favorite restaurant was expensive―, but her roommate had been in the mood for some pasta and so they ordered take-out.

A bite of garlic bread was all it took for red spots to start blooming on her skin and for Aqua to call an ambulance. As far as Lucy had known, she didn’t have any food allergies, still, she knew there was a possibility to develop them as an adult.

The third symptom was a lack of reflection.

Lucy had made plans with Tarou to go to their first Buffy convention. It was sort of a small event as it would be expected from a city like Magnolia, yet the two of them were incapable of sleeping from all the excitement. He had brought his Polaroid JobPro along, but upon taking the first picture they were confused to discover that Lucy’s figure appeared blurry. It wouldn’t change no matter how many times he cleaned the lens.

However, Natsu, a person she met at the convention —with funky pink hair and the coolest fang prosthetics she had ever seen— also looked blurry, so they assumed that it must have been a focusing problem.

The final symptom she felt and the one she could not make sense of for days was a constant craving. She would eat an enormous cheeseburger with an order of fries and onion rings, yet an emptiness prevailed in her stomach. It was Friday 9th, and she was already short on money for food.

She took a walk around downtown to take her mind off of the hunger, she hadn’t realized it was almost midnight until she passed a closed restaurant. Lucy started walking back to campus when she spotted the same person she had met at the convention arguing with an annoyed black-haired guy.

"Dammit, gum head! I told you to be careful with the money!"

"How was I supposed to know my pocket had a hole!" Lucy pondered whether to approach them or not, but didn't have much time to do so before the pink-head caught her watching. "Hey, I know you! Luigi, right?" They ran towards her, the guy following close with an irritated expression.

"Actually, it's Lucy."

"Yeah, right. How have you been? Can you lend us three hundred Jewels?" She blinked twice.

"Excuse me?"

"Hello," the unknown, very pale man extended a hand. "I'm Gray. Sorry for my partner's rudeness, we were supposed to be buying some food, but they are a dumbass and lost the money."

"It was an accident!" Natsu interrupted and went back to asking her for money. "We’ll pay you back. Please, from one vamp to another.”

She didn’t understand the expression, yet she agreed to help. They grabbed the bills, hugging her with gratitude before pulling Gray along into a butchery.

What kind of butcher is open at midnight?

She stayed there, waiting ―though she wasn’t sure why― until the pair exited with several plastic bags full of containers rather than meat.

“You’re still here!” They said, pleasantly surprised. “Would dinner make it up to you?” Gray looked at Natsu as if they had just lost their mind.

Normally, Lucy would have refused. Normally, Lucy didn’t follow strangers after just meeting them. However, Lucy’s hunger is not normal and the simple fact of mentioning food —free nonetheless— had made her stomach toss and turn inside her.

She followed the pair to a four-story building that at first sight seemed uninhabited; the clay bricks looked old and a bit wore down, the small plots of what could be considered a garden were unkempt, and every window was tinted so no one could see through. Common sense started catching up to her and Lucy started to remember movements from the karate lessons she used to take as a kid, just in case things went south.

She was taken aback, however, when Gray opened the door and they were welcomed into an entrance hall enclosed by mahogany doors with colorful stained-glass.

After that, it was as if they had entered an alternate dimension. They walked her through the parlor, which had a wall-length bookshelf like the one Lucy had always dreamed of and two painted portraits decorating a wall; one of Natsu in a vintage-looking skirt and one of an armored woman with crimson hair and olive skin.

Next, they went into a large living room which, instead of a couch, had a couple of mattresses on the floor covered with many pillows and blankets, positioned right in front of an old television. A woman, the same one from the painting, was laying down and intensely frowning at the TV’s static but turned to them when she heard them.

Her eyebrows went up at the sight of Lucy “...You brought a person? Didn't I give you money?"

"This dumbass lost it and she paid for it, we brought her as a guest." The redhead stood at a surprising speed and flattened the creases on her pants. 

"We bought a portable phone for a reason, Gray. Why didn't you call first? I would have had time to get presentable."

"You know I don't know how to use it."

The redhead ignored Gray's complaints and introduced herself as Erza. She guided Lucy to the dining room, where the two of them and Natsu would make some small talk and wait for him to prepare their meal.

“So tell us about you, Lucy.”

“Ehh, well, I’m studying for a Classic Literature degree.” The redhead perked up a bit.

“Ohh, does that include Greek literature?”

“Yes. Greek, Roman―” Erza made a sound that reminded her of an angry cat.

Natsu put a hand on her forearm to appease her and explained, “Erza doesn’t like it when someone says the “R” word. She has unfinished business with them.”

“...Unfinished business?...With the Romans?” The woman planted a fist on the table, shaking the vase with dahlias placed in the middle. 

“I would have defeated those fuckers if my generals hadn’t been cowards,” Erza started. Natsu sighed and rolled their eyes. The redhead kept going on a tangent about strategies and criticism of Ancient Greece that the blonde could not understand at all.

“Hey, you know the rules.” Gray interrupted, bringing a bowl of pasta. “No shit-talking the Romans at dinner.”

“I was just telling our guest that if Sparta―”

“If you keep talking about this, I’m not giving you dessert.” Erza shut her mouth and pouted slightly. Gray moved the floral centerpiece and put down the bowl, beginning to serve Lucy a dish.

“Sorry, did you put garlic on it? Because―”

“No. I wasn’t sure what your tolerance level was.” He then passed her a salt shaker with garlic powder and a saucer brimming with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Lucy took the first forkful of spaghetti and the second the sauce touched her tongue she felt a current of warmth enveloping her body. She took another bite, and another one until she was desperately stuffing her mouth with the greatest meal she’d had all week.

The trio stopped whatever conversation they were having to stare concerned as she lapped until the last drop of sauce. When she looked up, Lucy wanted to feel embarrassed by her actions but instead, she extended the plate and asked for more.

Erza, who was the closest to the bowl, served her a second time. “How long has it been since your last feeding?”

“I had a sandwich for lunch,” she slurped a noodle and licked the leftover sauce from her lips. What had he put on that sauce? It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

“No, when was the last time you drank blood?” That statement finally pulled her away from her food-induced trance.

“Are you joking?” She looked between each of her hosts, waiting for them to break into laughter, but their faces remained serious. Then something clicked in. “Did you...did you put blood in the food?”

“Yeah,” Gray said as if it were something to be expected. Lucy was horrified; she glanced at the dark red cream covering the spaghetti and she wanted to feel sick, yet there wasn’t an ounce of disgust in her.

In fact, she was feeling a bit...satiated.

“Lucy,” Natsu called for her attention, “did you...not know that you are a vampire?”

A vampire. Are these people so obsessed with a tv show that they would―

Lucy looks down at her hands, her pale brown skin has a sick tone to it as if she hadn’t seen the sun in months. There are stains on her fingers and the sight of red causes a violent resurgence of appetite within her.

Erza tries to take the almost forgotten plate but Lucy stops her. A sound reverberates somewhere in her throat, she recognizes it as the same sound the redhead had made moments before.

“Help me,” she pleads. Because this makes no sense, this should never make sense. Yet there is a sensation now ingrained in her; in her skin, in her muscles, in her bones, assuring her such outlandish idea is nothing but true.

She isn’t sure how, but she is taken to the sofa in the parlor. Erza is uncertainly drawing circles on Lucy's back with her thumb and Natsu is bringing her a cup of chamomile tea.

“Do you remember when you started to feel weird?” Gray asks softly. Not wanting to cause her more distress but deeply concerned about someone whom he met merely two hours ago.

She shakes her head, then remembers that morning —the one that now feels like it was ages ago—. She remembers scratching an itch on her neck amidst the pain of her hangover.

“What am I going to do?” She whispers before taking a sip of the soothing drink. It washes down her throat that sweet flavor that remained from her previous meal. 

"We have extra rooms, you can become part of our flock," Natsu suggests with a small smile, hoping it will ease the blonde's worries. Her frown at the unknown term —there are too many new words that she'll have to learn— prompts them to explain. "We live in groups of up to twelve people, a flock. It’s safer and easier to survive that way.”

The word survive made her anxious, but Erza’s firm hand grabbing her shoulder took her mind away from tragic thoughts.

“Listen, we understand that this is not something easy to process, but you shouldn't have to do it alone. It's fine if you don't want to stay here, we will still help in any way we can."

It baffled her the kindness and care in Erza's voice, the one reflected in the other ones' gaze. Were all vampires like this?

"I'll think about it," was the last thing Lucy said before insisting on returning home.

They thought she didn't notice, but she could hear Natsu's quiet footsteps following her from afar. Making sure she arrived safely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is a reference to this funky song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1g3iZPna9Q


	2. Vamping 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu guides Lucy and then they have some quality time together.

* * *

**September 9th, 1999.**

* * *

Lucy reminds Natsu of themself a lot. 

That picture of dread captured on her face, the despair in her voice; it was the exact same face and tone they had had seventy years ago when they first encountered gramps Makarov after being left alone to their own devices. When their own reality turned upside down.

Maybe it’s the long ignored memories of those first weeks, wishing someone had been there to tell them what was happening, the thing that drives them to knock on Lucy's door right the next day.

Natsu raps their knuckles on the hard wood. They hear steps getting closer but the person who answers the door is a blue haired woman that they have never met.

"Who are you?" She asks with an intimidating frown and narrowed eyes.

"I ehh is Lucy here?"

"Lucy, someone's looking for you!" She yells into the apartment and is given a loud and pained groan from the blonde's bedroom. She pays no attention to it and walks away, so Natsu assumes it means they can come inside.

“Go away!” She shouts before even knowing who it is.

“It’s Natsu. I was a little concerned after last night.” The door opens, and she pulls them inside with a strength she didn’t have before, mumbling under her breath.

“You can’t just say that with Aqua here. She’s gonna eavesdrop and annoy me all day.” Once Natsu is inside, they notice the room is in complete darkness, Lucy is still wearing her pajamas —even though it is two in the afternoon— and the bed is a mess.

All signs of a newly made fledgling. Or in this case, signs of an underfed fledgling whose first meal caused her powers to come in full force. 

“What were you saying?” she takes a brush and sits on her bed, so she can start to untangle wavy blonde hair. Natsu is a bit relieved to see that her hair looks less damaged after she fed, her skin also seemed to have acquired a healthier glow to it.

“I see you're having a rough time.” Lucy cringed when they spoke and the pink-head tried not to take it personally. They knew their voice wasn’t the nicest one on sensitive ears.

“Yeah, no shit. I didn’t know you could get a blood hangover.”

“You can’t. You can get blood fatigue though if you get too full. Makes you want to sleep all day.” Or if you were like them, it’ll make you sleep three days.

“Then why do I feel like there’s someone drilling on my skull?” Her voice didn’t raise over a whisper, but they noticed the slight lisp that came from long canines.

“Cause your body is finally healthy. You even got your fangs now.”

“Don’t you talk to me about those. I pierced my lip this morning.” They flinched at the memory of doing the exact same thing when their fangs first appeared.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here actually.” They took seat beside her. “I thought you might like some counseling.”

The blonde’s tense posture relaxed ever so slightly. “Alright, then I have questions.”

“Ask away.”

The elder vampires could say whatever they wanted about pop culture distorting people’s interpretation of them, but truth be told, they did a fair job of explaining the basics while only leaving a few misconceptions.

“Do we turn into bats? Do I get a bat face? Because I never liked the bat face.” Lucy had finished brushing her hair and was now twisting it into two loose braids. Natsu grabbed a pair of hair ties and passed them over to her. She gave them an odd look, but took them regardless. 

“We _can_ turn into bats, but the bat face is not a real thing. You don’t even have to have your fangs out if you don’t wanna.” They proceeded to teach her how to shorten her fangs and warned her to be careful with her tongue since they maintained their sharpness.

After that, there was a long moment of silence as Lucy finished her second braid. Then she looked at Natsu’s messy hair that always managed to both, fall on their face and stick up in the back of their head. 

“Can I give you pigtails?” They shrugged and nodded. She continued asking as she started working with their hair.“So, I’m guessing the whole ‘sun turns us to ashes’ is not real?”

“Yep. It only makes us weak, but not enough to be dangerous. We made up the myth so mortals would leave us be. Same with crosses and other stuff.”

“Wait,” she stops in the middle of gathering their hair, “crosses don’t work but garlic does? Are we invincible unless we eat italian?” 

Natsu bursts out laughing, apologizing between giggles when Lucy flinches at the sound. “Not exactly. We can still be killed with weapons or fire.” 

They thought about a good way to explain the effect garlic had on them. “Garlic...causes a lot of things to us but there are some vampires that have a higher tolerance. Gray can eat a lot of garlic and only feel a mild throat irritation, but if Erza tries to eat the same amount she gets all covered in rashes and can’t speak.”

The blonde hummed in understanding and finished styling their hair. "What about this?” She pointed at her ears that were probably exasperating her by now. “How do you deal with the noise?"

"That one's complicated. You'll have to learn how to tune out what isn't important. It helps to focus on a specific sound."

"What do you focus on?"

"Right now, the bird singing on your roof. It’s good to choose depending on your surroundings." Her grimace only deepened at their response.

"I hate that bird. I wanna go out and throw something at it."

"Alright...why don't you concentrate on something quieter and constant. Like your heartbeat." 

Lucy gave them an odd look but complied. She closed her eyes, the seconds passed and Natsu noticed the crease between her eyebrows slowly disappearing. 

"Nicely done. Now let’s go!” They jumped off the bed, pulling the confused blonde along before she had time to refuse.

“Where?” She forced them to tip toe quietly to the door in order to avoid her nosy roommate. Luckily, Aqua wasn’t on sight. 

“You gotta practice how to be outside.” Lucy didn’t argue, following as they took her out of her building and in some random direction.

Natsu new the basics, yet they had never initiated a newbie. They had been around when gramps gave the introductory course to Cana, back when they were still part of that flock, but that had been several decades ago and 1940’s Magnolia was certainly different —and much quieter— in comparison to modern day Magnolia.

They settled on taking her to the mall since it shouldn’t be as overwhelming at that hour —and definitely not because they remembered Erza had asked them to run an errand—. 

Still, Lucy winced as soon as they stepped into the large building. After a moment of gritting her teeth, she sighed and eased down. Natsu smiled and encouraged her.

“Well done. You think you can stay calm in that shop?” they pointed to an electronics store. Lucy narrowed her eyes, as if the assumption offended her. They went inside the store. 

Natsu looked through the aisles a bit lost, they were supposed to get a new radio, since the one they had was starting to malfunction too often, but they could not find any equipment that looked like the one at home.

“Natsu,” Lucy called while they stared puzzled at a device that looked like a TV but with a transparent screen. “What are you looking for?”

“A radio.”

“...That’s a toaster oven.” She pointed to another aisle. “The radios are there.” Natsu gaped like a goldfish. “Do you guys don’t have a radio?”

They scratched the back of their head, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden.“It broke. Erza told me to get a new one but the designs have changed a lot since the 20’s.”

Lucy stared at them with disbelief for a moment. “You have had the same radio since the 1920’s?” Natsu nodded. “I suppose the TV too?”

“That one’s from the 50’s. We don’t buy many of those kinds of things.”

“Do you only change your appliances when they break down?” They nodded. “Do you have a microwave? A blender? A hairdryer?” They shook their head for every question. “Ok, we’re gonna have to get some if you want me to move in.”

Natsu perked up at that. “You’re accepting our offer?”

“I’m still thinking about it...but I appreciate the help.” She gave a tiny smile that contrasted with Natsu’s own giant grin.

They grabbed a shopping car and started filling it with many boxes of electrical appliances, but when the moment came to pay for them, neither of them had enough money.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all covered.” Natsu insisted when Lucy started complaining. They waited until there were no other customers by the cash register and approached, twirling a pigtail with a finger.

“Hi,” they said to the clerk, who didn’t seem like he was going to be persuaded until Natsu’s eyes turned ruby red, activating their hypnotizing powers. “You will let us buy all of these products for only two hundred and fifteen jewels with fifty cents.” They took a piece of paper from the desk and a pen from the clerk’s pocket to scribble something. “Then you will send them to this direction because we don’t have a car.”

The clerk repeated what they said with a monotone voice and accepted the money. Natsu pulled Lucy out of the shop as the clerk took the shopping car to the back, so he could start preparing the delivery.

“Did we just commit robbery?”

“Nuh-uh, I paid. It’s not my fault mortals charge so much for things.” Lucy didn’t look convinced by their excuse, so they decided to take her mind off of the technicalities by treating her with ice cream.

She was doubtful at first, since she didn’t want to add another crime to her conscience, but they assured her that they were going to a special Ice Cream shop. The shop their friend Lisanna worked at, which even if it catered towards mortals, served to other vampires free of charge.

Lucy ordered a double cone of cookies and cream while Natsu had a waffle bowl of rocky road. They attempted to get something for Gray and Erza, but apparently Lis had put a rule of no to-go servings since that time Natsu got a cup of each flavor ―which is honestly unfair―.

They took a stroll at a nearby park. She asked questions about their old life, but besides talking a little about their childhood, Natsu didn’t say much. They tried not to think about the years before their turning and the couple of years after the change. Thankfully, Lucy didn’t press further on the subject.

When the sun started setting, the blonde stood from a bench they had sat at and said goodbye. Before parting, however, she told Natsu, “When can I move in with you?”

They beamed at her with excitement. “Whenever you want, we can help you pack.” She nodded and stayed for a moment.

“Can you do me a favor, though?” Her expression was particularly serious. Natsu wasn’t sure what she would ask, yet they nodded. “I want to find whoever did this to me and I want them to pay.”

Apart from Erza, Natsu had never found another person with such a threatening gleam in their eyes. Like she could guide a battalion to victory.

They nodded again, for good measure.


	3. Moving inconveniences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some bonding time and shenaningans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to finish this, I wanted to be done with school and then a personal thing happened. Anyway happy holidays and enjoy! 
> 
> The next chapter will hopefully be done before new years eve.

* * *

**September 16th, 1999.**

* * *

Gray left the couple of boxes containing Lucy’s belongings in the foyer. She didn’t actually have that many things, and most of the boxes only had clothes in them. He was pretty sure the only reason Natsu said she would need help moving in was just so they could hang out and play dress up.

“Gray, you dropped this!” the blonde said with annoyance as she dusted off a thin lavender scarf and haphazardly threw it over his head. 

“Sorry,” he pulled it back around his neck, “maybe if someone hadn’t gotten on my way because they were playing with a box.” He gave a pointed look to Natsu, who only stuck out their tongue in response.

“We have a couple of rooms on the third floor and one on the fourth, you can pick whichever you want.” Erza came in, carrying three boxes on one hand.

Lucy was indecisive, although she ended up choosing the fourth floor when they told her it was the biggest room. The group brought her boxes up the stairs without problem, but when they managed to open the unused door, they were received by a cloud of dust and spider webs.

“When was the last time this was cleaned?” Lucy asked through coughs.

“Well,” Gray debated if stepping foot inside was a good idea, “we moved here three decades ago and the council said no one came before us so…”

“It’s nothing that can’t be cleaned this afternoon.” Erza turned on the one light bulb in the middle of the room. “See? At least the switch-”

She stopped mid-sentence as a group of cockroaches and mice scattered around at the presence of light. A few went centimeters away from them, and while Erza remained stoically petrified, the other three yelled in horror.

Natsu and Gray looked for the nearest highest point to climb onto, which just so happened to be Lucy. The blonde didn’t even register when she got two armfuls of dorky vampires until Erza recovered the ability to speak.

“Well, guess we’re gonna have to wait for Happy to hunt them down.”

“Oh, really Erza!? THAT’S YOUR SOLUTION!?” Natsu yelled in Lucy’s ear and the blonde let them fall butt-first on the floor. Gray also realized the position he was in, so he began to apologize.

“Don’t worry, you’re not that heavy.” Lucy moves her arm as if she were lifting weights and Gray can feel his face heating up. He is well aware that an increment in strength is a secondary effect of vampirism, but honestly he’s only a man. When a pretty girl is showing off like that, how can he not swoon? 

He still climbs off Lucy before anyone —namely Natsu— starts teasing him. He clears his throat, “Maybe we should call an exterminator. If this room is infested, who knows how the rest of the floor looks.”

“Alright. I’ll contact the council to ask for funds, you two return Lucy’s things back to her other apartment, see also if the other girl lets us stay the night.”

Gray doesn’t think that will be an option; they barely crossed paths with her old roommate but judging by how eager she’d been to kick Lucy out, he doubted she'd let them over. They bring everything back and, as suspected, Aqua is mad about the situation, but to his surprise she doesn’t put up a big fight and —after Lucy has begged and Happy used his well-rehearsed kitty eyes— lets them stay. 

The blue haired woman eyes him and Natsu cautiously and mentions something about Lucy’s dad having called. He notices the blonde immediately becoming tense, then she takes her old roommate to the kitchen to have a talk.

Natsu has a concerned frown, they are already being so protective of their new flock member. “Give her privacy,” he pulls the pink head along to Lucy’s room and stops himself from listening too.

“Do you think she has trouble with her dad?” Natsu pets the cat resting on their shoulders. 

“We should wait until she’s comfortable telling us.”

When Lucy enters the room, she's putting on a friendly smile, but there is a newfound uneasiness in it. Still, they don't inquire about the subject, settling instead for watching the second season of Buffy that she had on VHS.

"These characters are so stupid," he complained during the fourth episode. "Why would a random Peruvian teenager know the ancient Inca language?"

"Of course it's nonsense Gray, this show was written by gringos," Lucy said in monotone passing a popcorn bowl to Natsu.

"But it's as if someone assumed I know some kind of Celtic just because I'm French!"

"Again, written by ignorant white men," Natsu remarked through a mouthful of popcorn, rolling their eyes.

"Wait, you're French?" 

"Non, je suis queer," he jokes and ignores Lucy's follow-up questions. Erza arrives soon after, carrying bags full of candy and beverages. "Uhm Erza, dear, why did you buy all that?"

The redhead kneels on the floor, where they had laid some blankets for the night, and starts taking out the treats, "The exterminator wasn't as expensive, so I got snacks for our slumber party!" Gray sighed. Of course Erza would want to make the best of a not-so-good situation.

They kept watching the show for a while until they got tired of his commentary. Gray insists that for a vampire show, they have too many other demons, and they lean too hard on the "lost boys" aesthetic for his taste. After a small debate on their portrayal in the media, Erza drinks what remains of her iced tea and decides to use the empty bottle to play truth or dare. 

"Aren't we too old to play high school games?" Lucy takes a piece of a red vine and feeds it to Happy. She looks up when no one responds to find an offended Natsu with a hand in their chest and Erza sheepishly playing with the bottle cap.

"I wouldn't know, we didn't have high school...or bottles...or games...."she said in that tone that Gray knows she uses whenever she wants to get away with something. It works, because Lucy is suddenly scrambling to the floor so they can form a circle.

She wasn't completely lying though; none of them had ever played and Gray's only knowledge of this game came from a movie where the characters used it as an excuse to make out. He just hopes Natsu won't get carried away with the dares. Lucy spins the bottle, and it lands on Erza, who's barely containing her excitement. 

"I choose truth!" Lucy frowns in deep thought.

"What's up with your hatred for the Romans?" Natsu and Gray groan tired as Erza starts making a soft growling sound.

"Well, first of all, they are a bunch of two-faced snakes. May they suffer eternally in Tartarus," she went on a tirade, complaining about how Sparta had helped them achieve victory yet those traitorous Romans turned them into their lapdogs, and if she hadn't been indisposed, she would have ended their whole army. She kept going for a good five minutes until Natsu stuffed her mouth with marshmallows. 

"And that's why we don't talk about the subject," they spin the bottle, and it lands on Gray. "Oh yeah," they rub their hands like a cartoon villain, "I dare you to eat all the peppers in the fridge!"

"I didn't even pick yet!"

"Were you going to pick truth, like a coward?" That's all Natsu needed to say.

He started to stand up, but Lucy didn't want to wake Aqua up, so she insisted on going to the kitchen to retrieve the peppers. Luckily for Gray, there were only three little serrano peppers —although he had a very short endurance for that kind of food, so he still suffered—.

Gray spins the bottle and it points to Lucy, who hesitates before choosing dare. "I'll go easy on you. I dare you to give us your best angry vampire face."

Lucy sighs and closes her eyes to concentrate; she brings her hands up in a claw-like gesture and scrounges up her face adorably, lips in a snarl that shows her fangs. The faint hiss that leaves her throat is too much for the trio, and they break into laughter. 

"S-Screw you all!" Lucy pouts and spins the bottle, ignoring their chorus of "awws". It lands on Gray who, again, doesn't get to choose before the blonde dares him to say something dirty in French.

Gray nudges Natsu after they say that everything in French is dirty and takes his time to come up with something. He finally points to Erza and says:

"Natsu, va te faire foutre chez les grecs." Erza cracks up and falls backwards holding her middle, Natsu starts insulting him in Japanese —as he expected— and Lucy just sits there confused.

The rest of the night goes on like that until Aqua yells at them for interrupting her sleep, and they realize it’s already well past midnight. They don’t actually have a need for sleep, but Erza suggests they lay in a ‘cuddle puddle’ and rest anyway.

Once Gray has taken off his binder, Lucy has lent them pajamas and Natsu has hoarded all the blankets; they settle down on Lucy’s floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found the insult in Quora, it says "Go and get stuffed by the Greeks"


	4. The (worst) father of the year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jude Heartfilia is here and we all hate him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be busy all of February with a valentine exchange and femslash month, so I won't update this for a little while, but I'll be posting my oneshots (mostly yukinerva) if you're interested in some f/f.  
> Anyway, here's a new chapter. Enjoy!

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**October 14th-15th, 1999**

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It might seem silly coming from someone with as many centuries lived as Erza, but she often worries about being too much. And it isn't just that she worries about her partners thinking she's clingy, she is also uncertain when it comes to new friends —even more so with soon-to-be friends—. The impromptu slumber party of their first night had been well-received by Lucy, however, she didn't want to overwhelm her with activities to do together while she was still getting accustomed to her new life. 

Erza decided to approach it slowly and steadily, inviting her to watch movies in the living room on the weekends —the ones that bored Natsu and Gray didn't really care for— and offering to help her with some college-related projects —though she turned out not to be a big help, but Lucy appreciated the effort—.

They would also often do the grocery shopping together when it was the turn of either of them and the private time together that it offered served to get to know each other a little better.

Lucy would talk excitedly about whatever book she had been reading or a lesson that she found particularly interesting, while Erza would tell her some old stories about her life before she came to Fiore. She wondered if the fascinated looks that Lucy gave her were the same ones that she devoted to history books. They reflected a different kind of interest than the one she was used to, though not an unwelcome one.

Natsu had been the youngest in their little flock before Lucy, but they had never been as curious about her anecdotes —well, only the battle stories, but is not like she was complaining—. Gray had asked her some things upon their first meeting and he had continued to show interest for a while until he fixated on knowing about the places she had seen.

He would ask her to describe all of them and then attempt to paint them as accurately as possible. However, in current times, Gray had already seen enough of the world in several periods to paint from his own memory and experience rather than use her descriptions.

Lucy doesn't only ask about the battles or the places, she asks about the people and what life used to be like, in a tone that she thinks would be that of an archeologist, if she had ever met one. And Erza had never really met someone with that much hunger for knowledge nor did she expect to enjoy being the source of it as much as she did.

She wonders if Lucy will retain that curiosity over the centuries, even when she sees it all with her own two eyes and there is nothing left to discover.

She tries to avoid such dreary thoughts. 

Lucy starts asking a lot about where their money comes from too and the intricacies of vampire living. Erza explains that their money comes partially from a pension given by the council, besides Natsu's part-time job as a firefighter and Gray selling paintings now and then. Lucy attempts to give her the money she makes working at a small bookshop but Erza reassures her that they don't need it at the moment and she should keep it for more personal stuff. Erza still notices her being nervous about it.

"Are we paying rent for the house?" Lucy asks, setting groceries out of paper bags and on the kitchen counter.

"Well, no. We just pay for the cable. The council manages everything else; electricity, water, heating..." Erza makes a mental note to check on the building heater later. It will start getting cold soon and their bodies tend to be susceptible to cold temperatures.

"Do they have the receipts?"

"I'm not sure, but I can look it up for you. Why do you need them?" She turns to look at her but Lucy busies herself by putting away food in the pantry.

"Oh just for college. I think I'm gonna have to let them know I've changes residences." She can tell that there is something going on, but she doesn't press on. Lucy will tell her if it's something important.

The very next day, she goes to the council's office. It only takes a meeting with Jellal and a couple of hours —well, half an hour of search, plus two hours of catching up— to get the receipts.

It's Friday in the early afternoon, and she knows that Lucy must be almost done with her classes so she chooses to visit her at the campus in case she wants to proceed as soon as possible. When she arrives, she realizes that the place is much bigger than she had imagined and, even worse, she doesn't actually know what building Lucy is in.

She wanders around, checking every few minutes with some random students that always seem to point to a different place when she asks for the literature building or whatever it is called. Instead of finding the blonde, she's the one being found.

"Erza?" She whips around to find Lucy hurrying towards her, backpack hanging from a shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"I got your receipts." There's some hesitance and an unreadable expression on her face when she takes the folder from Erza's hand.

"Well, since I got them here. I'm gonna go to administration. I'll see you at home." Erza watches her leave and considers going home, but she can't shake the feeling that something is bothering Lucy.

Erza stays and follows the other woman's direction.

Lucy enters one of two buildings that flank a simple fountain, Erza decides to wait for her sitting at its ledge. She stares at her reflection in the water, the only surface that will return her stare, and admires the eyeliner that Natsu put on her that morning.

Minutes go by. She doesn't know what the process is but knows that bureaucracy is slow. It's been a little over an hour of staring at her own blank expression and twirling the water around with a finger, receiving weird looks from passersby.

A man approaches in the direction of the same building, yet makes a stop specifically to regard her with disdainful glare and remark, "You leaf-munching hippies are everywhere. Intoxicating her with your toxic ideas."

Erza gave him a menacing side-glance as he entered the building. She murmured, "Blood clot."

She continued sitting there a moment longer until the faint sound of commotion from inside the building caught the attention of her enhanced ears. She rushed inside, a man's voice thundering through the hallways.

"-ing you study in this stupid school because Aqua would keep an eye on you. Your mother trusted her family so I thought I could too, but I see I was wrong! Where are you even living right now? What kind of backward commune have you gotten in?"

The same man that had just insulted her was screaming at Lucy inside an office. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixed to the ground and she flinched at his words. She could even swear she saw her tremble.

"Hey!" She called for the man's attention and found also Lucy's relieved stare, half-heartedly pleading her not to say anything else. 

But she will be damned if she lets her friend be spoken to like that.

"Who do you think you are, screaming at Lucy like that?" The man's rage deepens, looking between the two of them as if everything has become clear.

"I am her father and the one paying for her tuition. And I see she's wasting my money hanging out with hippies like you." He then ignores Erza and turns back to his daughter. "Is this the kind of people you've decided to surround yourself with? I knew I shouldn't have let you pick such a stupid career. You're wasting your time and my money! "

The spartan blood in her boils as he goes on with his tirade, insult Lucy's passions and diminishing her. She must remind herself not to snap, to keep a leveled head, and think of how to deescalate the situation, no matter how much she wishes to let her fury lose on this man.

"You're wasting your time and my money! Your mother would be disappointed in you. You're going to come back-"

Erza hears a growl, just quiet enough that only she could hear it under his yelling.

She focuses back on Lucy, whose fangs show just the faintest bit through snarling lips. She is trembling, but Erza realizes it isn't from fear and she tenses, ready to spring into action lest she must prevent that she does something regretful.

"Do not speak of her like that."

"What are you saying?" Lucy pinned the much taller man down with a stare.

"You have no right to speak about what my mom would or wouldn't think when you didn't even know her."

"You insolent brat-"

"I am not done talking," all of a sudden, her eyes shone bright red. Erza was speechless.

Hypnosis takes time, normally a decade, to manifest; yet Lucy had inadvertently managed to use her power merely a month after being bitten.

Jude was pale as a sheet, incapable to move even an inch or utter a sound under Lucy's control.

"My mother was the most amazing woman on this black earth and for some reason beyond my comprehension she loved you, and I think you loved her but as you've made it pretty clear after years and years of treating me like an asset that's taking too long to make a profit, you don't love me. Well, I'm sorry-Actually, no. I'm not sorry to tell you, I'm not an asset and I will not do what you want me to. I will not study what you want, marry a man, and pop up grandchildren that you will use to keep your legacy going like you're the fucking King of Fiore. I'm gonna do and live whatever way I want, happily away from you and without your money."

Her eyes stopped shining, but Jude remained frozen. Lucy walked up to Erza without caring about his possible response and made a sign for them to leave.

On their way home, Lucy tells Erza everything; how her father had been controlling and mistreating her since she was young, her mother being the only source of affection and her only support until she died, seven years ago. She tells her how she had learned to play the game and managed to convince him to let her study what she wanted if she promised to also get a business degree next.

The pieces of freedom that she had gotten the past years had made her see that she couldn't keep going like that, so she had been planning to leave his control, applying for a scholarship but she had been so worried about it being rejected and all of her efforts being in vain. Yet, right at that moment, all the worry was fading away.

"You know, it's odd," Lucy said as they reached the steps of their building. She sat down on them, Erza following soon after, and glanced up at the creamy clouds in the sky. "When you all told me I was a vampire I thought I was gonna be miserable. And, to be fair, I'm still getting used to this but...it helped me get a new perspective. I don't think I would've been able to break away from him or to be so sure about my decisions right now if I were the same woman I was two months ago."

Lucy leans her head on Erza's shoulder and thanks her.

"What for?"

"You guys have really been a great support lately. I'm so happy I found you."

Memories from over two millennia ago, from when she was in the same place as Lucy, claw their way out of Erza's mind and she can't stop a few tears from escaping her tired eyes. She's overcome; by sadness at that young Erza —back then, Charikleia—, struggling to survive and to find reasons to live, and by relief and joy at having made sure another innocent person doesn't go through the same pain.

She envelops Lucy in a crushing hug that's returned in full.


End file.
